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HOMEBUYER’S ADVANTAGE: DETROIT That’s right—Detroit: city of nightly arson, block after block of empty lots, bankruptcy declarations by both government and automakers, and a median asking price of $16,000 for a home. Detroit isn’t for everybody, but its downtown is redeveloping, with huge investments in start-up companies and infrastructure by the likes of billionaire Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers. For those with an appetite for remodeling, for rethinking development and urban space, and for building new communities, Detroit is a petri dish they’ll want to jump into. The houses that the Detroit Land Bank (buildingdetroit.org) auctions off—usually for $1000— aren’t properties for a quick flip, but if you’ve got more energy and building know-how than budget and are willing to bet on Detroit’s future, here’s a chance to get in on the ground floor. MODERN-HOME MECCA: ALEXANDRIA There is no shortage of communities vying for this honor, particularly in California, where developers such as Joseph Eichler built thousands of modern homes for the middle class (see pp. 36-41). With the surging popularity of midcenturymodern design, other contenders in this category—such as Denver and Austin, Texas—share much of the press with California. That helped steer our choice to the East Coast and a remarkable collection of intact modern developments in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Hollin Hills is a 450-home development just south of Alexandria, Va., built in the 1950s and 1960s as an experiment in modern housing. Charles Goodman (architect of the original National Airport) planned the neighborhood, designed the houses, and weighed in on the landscape architecture as an antidote to the rows of colonial revivals sprouting up in the postwar years. Goodman designed three other developments on the Maryland side of Washington that are also on the National Register of Historic Places. HIGH-PERFORMANCE HEAVEN: PACIFIC NORTHWEST Portland has a reputation as a progressive city in a progressive region, and homeowners have put their money where their mouths are. Oregon has 22 certified Passive Houses, and Washington has 17—about 30% of the projects certified to date by the Passive House Institute US. In addition to the national green-building programs, the region’s builders and homeowners can participate in the regional Earth Advantage program, which enrolled 566 homes last year. PRESERVATIONIST HOT SPOT: PULLMAN NEIGHBORHOOD, CH In the southeast section of Chicago George Pullman built a factory for his rail cars and a model o ho industrial town for his workers. When a propo industrial park in the 1960s threatened the tho buildings in this early, planned, mixed-use neig S ADVANTAGE: DETROIT That’s right—Detroit: city of nightly arson, block after block of empty lots, bankruptcy declarations by both government and automakers, and a median asking price of $16,000 for a home. Detroit isn’t for everybody, but its downtown is redeveloping, with huge investments in start-up companies and infrastructure by the likes of billionaire Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers. For those with an appetite for remodeling, for rethinking development and urban space, and for building new communities, Detroit is a petri dish they’ll want to jump into. The houses that the Detroit Land Bank (buildingdetroit.org) auctions off—usually for $1000— aren’t properties for a quick flip, but if you’ve got more energy and building know-how than budget and are willing to bet on Detroit’s future, here’s a chance to get in on the ground floor. MODERN-HOME MECCA: ALEXANDRIA There is no shortage of communities vying for this honor, particularly in California, where developers such as Joseph Eichler built thousands of modern homes for the middle class (see pp. 36-41). With the surging popularity of midcentury- modern design, other contenders in this category—such as Denver and Austin, Texas—share much of the press with California. That helped steer our choice to the East Coast and a remarkable collection of intact modern developments in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Hollin Hills is a 450-home development just south of Alexandria, Va., built in the 1950s and 1960s as an experiment in modern housing. Charles Goodman (architect of the original National Airport) planned the neighborhood, designed the houses, and weighed in on the landscape architecture as an antidote to the rows of colonial revivals sprouting up in the postwar years. Goodman designed three other developments on the Maryland side of Washington that are also on the National Register of Historic Places. HIGH-PERFORMANCE HEAVEN: PACIFIC NORTHWEST Portland has a reputation as a progressive city in a progressive region, and homeowners have put their money where their mouths are. Oregon has 22 certified Passive Houses, and Washington has 17—about 30% of the projects certified to date by the Passive House Institute US. In addition to the national green-building programs, the region’s builders and homeowners can participate in the regional Earth Advantage program, which enrolled 566 homes last year. PRESERVATIONIST HOT SPOT: PULLMAN NEIGHBORHOOD, CH In the southeast section of Chicago George Pullman built a factory for his rail cars and a model o ho industrial town for his workers. When a propo industrial park in the 1960s threatened the tho buildings in this early, planned, mixed-use neig homeowners homeowners banded together, gaining local landmark protection for the properties. In Feb 2015, a portion of the neighborhood was designated a national monument. NEXUS OF NET ZERO: CALIFORNIA If you’re interested in building net-zero houses, California is the place to be. According to the state’s energy code, often referred to as Title 24, every house built must be net zero as of 2020. The energy codes have tightened every few years in preparation for the change, and builders, especially large production builders, have started adopting net-zero strategies early. THE LAND OF THE GREATS (BY BIRTHPLACE) E en if you bought your Denver dream home in 2006 at he peak of the bubble, you’ll still come out ahead. On erage, Denver’s home prices are higher today than at other point in history. A strong job market and a steady of transplants has economists predicting that demand will continue to exceed supply, pushing future prices even higher. W CASH IN: DENVER Ev th e o o Thomas Jefferson (Shadwell, Va.) Frank Lloyd Wright (Richland Center, Wis.) James Cutler (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) Julia Morgan (San Francisco) Charles and Henry Greene (Cincinnati) Photos: Robert Wallace/Corbis (Detroit), William Manning/Corbis (Columbus), Richard Nowitz/National Geographi Creative/Corbis (Washington),